Economic Impacts of Seafood Exports

Fish and seafood is Scotland's largest food export, valued at approximately £1 billion in 2021 for 204 000 tonnes. Scottish fish and seafood exports accounted for 63% of the total UK fish and seafood exports (£1.6 billion) (Scottish Government, 2022). Regionally, the East Scotland Coast (Fig. 1) total value of catch in 2018 was £21.38m (out of £649.69m total value for Scotland). This value includes landings by all UK vessels (of all lengths) and landings by foreign vessels into the UK, and excludes fish caught in Scottish sea areas by non-UK vessels and landed outside the UK (Moffat et al, 2020).

Scottish Seafood Exports - EU and non-EU
Seafood exports to EU destinations:
In 2019/20, the value of seafood exports to the EU was £795 million. This number increased to £866 million in 2023/24, but in real terms the value has decreased by 5% (£34 million). In 2019/20, the most valuable destinations for seafood exports in the EU were France, Spain, Italy, Ireland, and Germany. In 2023/24, the most valuable destinations were France, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, and Ireland, with France accounting for 58% of the total value of Scotland's seafood exports and 72% of the total value of Scotland's EU seafood exports (Alton, Feeney-Seale & McIver, 2024). 

In recent years, seafood trade has been impacted by Brexit, the COVID-19 pandemic, and war (i.e. Russian invasian of Ukraine) (Scottish Government, 2022). Changes in export destinations and value is due to the majority of exports being redirected to Western Europe transport hubs following exit from the EU,  local investment into fish processing plants in countries in Eastern Europe such as Poland, tourism rebound post-COVID-19, and inflation in the UK having a negative impact on seafood demand in the UK (Alton, Feeney-Seale & McIver, 2024).

Seafood exports to non-EU destinations:
In 2019/20, the most valuable non-EU destinations for seafood exports were the USA, China, South Korea, Taiwan and Japan. In 2023/24,  the most valuable destinations were the USA, China, Canada, Japan, and Taiwan, with the USA accounting for 8% of the total value of  Scotland's seafood exports and 40% of the total value of Scotland's non-EU seafood exports(Alton, Feeney-Seale & McIver, 2024).

North East Scotland Seafood Exports
Looking at Figures 2-5, white fish, pelagic fish, shellfish, and salmon are supplied to the UK and exported to the EU and Rest of the World (RoW) from the North East of Scotland in varying numbers according to a 2019 survey (NESFLAG, 2020). 
•   White fish is supplied in the largest amounts to Scotland at over 4000 tonnes. Over 15,000 tonnes of white fish are supplied to the UK annually with over 17,000 exported to the EU. 
•   Pelagic fish is exported from NE Scotland in greatest numbers to the EU, over 32,000 tonnes. However, the pelagic fish market is important to the UK and RoW - over 23,000 tonnes supplied to the UK and 19,500 tonnes exported to RoW.
•   Shellfish is exported from NE Scotland in greatest numbers to the EU, over 13,000 tonnes. 1700 tonnes of shellfish from NE Scotland are supplied to the UK and over 10,500 tonnes are exported to RoW.
•   In the NE Scotland, salmon processed are mostly supplied to the UK market at 875 tonnes, with 250 tonnes exported to the EU and RoW each.

In 2024, the total export value of Scottish salmon internationally was £844 million with the value of exports increasing by 45%. Scottish salmon is the UKs top food export, with strong demand for the product in Asia (Salmon Scotland, 2025).